The thoughts of a truly ignorant person.

Over the years, if I have learnt anything, it is that my ignorance is fundamental.

This may surprise many who speak with me, as people report that I often exude a confidence and certainty that they admire. They look at some of the things that I have done. such as a 28 day hunger strike and publicly Tripping with LSD on the Steps of Victoria’s Parliament House and think that I must be very certain of what I know.

Within one context, this is true. I am very certain of what I know. For example, when I write to members of the Victorian Parliament about my use of Transcendent Compounds, I use rigorous science and provide a sound assessment of the legal realities. I am a firm believer in science when it comes to figuring out the realities of this particular universe.

Anyone who knows me will know that I am frustrated by the ignorance that parades as knowledge. Whether it be conspiracy theorists trying to tell me that people I personally know (including friends in politics) are being controlled by the Illuminati, or Christian fundamentalists trying to tell me that their easily falsifiable “faith” in Christ means that I’ll be tortured in Hell for eternity.

It seems that wherever I turn people are in a desperate search for some sort of explanation an they’ll take the first shortcut that appeals to them and to the social networks they inhabit. They’d rather have an often horrific and depressing “certainty”, rather than go through life acknowledging that the fundamental state of all sentient is Ignorance.

What does it mean for something to be “True” and how can I ever know the “Truth”? Ultimately, we can never know anything for sure. While I believe certain things about the reality that I inhabit, I also know that I don’t have a clue about the fundamental reality of my experience. How much of what I experience is actually real? What does it even mean for something to be real?

I honestly don’t know if anything that I believe is actually “true” and when I see the grievous errors that other people make in their thinking and decision-making, I can’t help but wonder what errors I too am making. Lots according to others, but everything I write makes sense to me, and therein lies the rub.

How can anyone disprove the Matrix? We can’t. And if we can’t disprove the Matrix, how can we know anything for sure, beyond our own existence? Again, we can’t.

And I have long since given up worrying about it and have learnt to live with and enjoy the vast uncertainty that is every day of my life.

More evil in this world is created by those who think that they have “truth” than those who don’t. The fundamental motivation behind intolerance is that the bigot thinks that they know something and are better than those who they hate. It’s very hard to play nice with the other children, if you are convinced that they are inherently evil and are doing the work of Satan.

As hard as it is, I believe that the way forward for humanity lies not in us all believing the same thing and singing of the one song sheet, be it a Christian, Muslim, Communist, or Capitalist one. Instead, our collective way forward lies in acknowledging the fundamental uncertainty of all our opinions and being tolerant of the non-hurtful behaviors of others.

Civilization and communities are stronger than people think. Civilization has always been a move towards tolerance and the acceptance of others. If I can communicate anything in what I do, it is that we all need to simply accept that we haven’t got a clue and allow others to live their lives in whatever way they see fit, as long as they are not causing harm to others. Most of us have enough trouble keeping our own lives together, let alone worrying about living the lives of others.

The sooner people start leaving their self-imposed institutionalised, intellectual ghettos, the sooner that humanity will learn to truly cooperate and work together to solve our problems.

In this blog, I’ll be teasing out these and other issues. I have already written much on these topics, and these pages will be gradually added to the website over the next few days and weeks. But there is always more to be explored and much fun to be had in doing so.

If you want to listen to the thoughts of a truly ignorant person, tune in an enjoy the ride. 🙂